VIDEO: THE STUPIDITY OF MEDIA ON TRANS VISIBILITY

A video essay on the impact of so-called “trans tipping point” and visibility politics. Specifically, the disproportionate harm experienced by low-income transwomen of color, non-binary, gender non-conforming, queers and trans people. Clips span from the early 1990s to 2016. This aims to disrupt the notion of linear progress.

Since this issue goes beyond what I can say in 8 minutes, I offer the following piece from Darkmatter:
1. What does it mean to prioritize queer visibility in a political climate where visibility for most queer and trans people of color = surveillance, homelessness, violence, criminalization, and incarceration?
2. What does it mean to make the onus of liberation on the individual (you! come out!) versus the system (you! eradicate the closet!)?
3. What does it mean to compel people to come out when we do not have the infrastructure to support them (homeless shelters, radical foster care, finances, emotional support, jobs, etc.)?
4. What does it mean when the state uses our visibility to pinkwash itself and justify its war and imperialist policies?
5. What does it mean when not being ‘out’ is associated with being repressed/self-hating rather than being strategic and discerning?
6. What does it mean for coming out to be the only way many LGBT people get involved with movement struggle by proudly announcing themselves and then subsequently participating in economies, politics, and logics that further oppress the most vulnerable members of their communities?